what should I buy.

[J E Custom]

Jeremiah.
Before you chose a cartridge look at the max
distance you want to hunt.
then look at the Energy at your max distance
of each Caliber.
1200ft-lbs for whitetails and 2000 ft-lbs is recomened for one shot kills on Elk.
Example , A 7mm 140gr leaving at 3200 fps
has 2120ft-lbs at 300 yds and 1836 at 400 yds . So 350 yds would be max for Elk.

With the same load Whitetail can be taken out to 650 yds.

At long range a big fast bullet Beats a small fast bullet in energy.

Hope this helps
Good Luck

 

[Dave King]

Jerimiah, J. E. Custom

I believe that 350 yards for the 7mm 140 @ 3200 can be pushed out a little for some folks.

I haven't hunted any Gulf Coast, Brazoria beach roaming elk

but I have hunted those high altitude elk in the mountains of Colorado. At 12,000ft and 40 degrees F. you can push that 350 yards out to over 500 yards before falling below 2000ft/lbs. You also get the added benefit of much less wind effect and a flatter trajectory.

 

[jjohnson]

Hey guys thanks for all the input and support. I really like the idea about starting with a heavy barrel savage in .308 and getting used to it, plus its in my currant price range. I think it will be easier to shoot at first and when I am ready I will get it retro for the 7mm. The only question is what one the traditional 7mm mag or the short magnum? Is there a major performance differance between the two or is it mostly just price? And yes I am going to do my own reloads, I do my handgun loads now and am sure I can pick up on the bottle necks quickly.

 

[Pete Lincoln]

They die in heaps when the '06 speaks.

best of both worlds with a 30-06. you can equal the trajectory of the 7 mag, or the 308 depending on how you load it. enough power for anything in the Northern Hemisphere if you load it right (i'd use more gun on a Grizz but with proper shot placement and good bullets an 06 would do)
Pete